Certificate/Letter of Freedom to Marry?

ash2008

Hi,

Im Irish living the last few years in Canada with my Canadian boyfriend. We are getting married this year in Ireland and my priest advised that we will both need to get a "letter of freedom". He advised to get it from the local parish priest, but they don't really do parishes where I am.

I was googling myself and a "certificate of freedom to marry" is what came back from my search. Is this the same thing? It also says to get it from the Dept of Foreign Affairs. So would I get it from the Irish Dept of Foreign Affairs and my boyf gets one from the Canadian govt?? Sorry, Im so confused and my brain is a bit addled with all the paperwork such as apostille stamps etc...we managed to figure that part out luckily, but its been stressful enough trying to get it. Hopefully this letter of freedom won't be as bad.

sheikhnguyen

A certificate de coutume is what you are after. Give the Irish embassy a bell and they will be able to help you get one. I had to do the same when I got married.

lazygal

Certs of freedom to marry are church documents, nothing to do with state bodies. Your church where you attend services is what you should contact.

http://www.accord.ie/services/getting-married/getting-married-in-the-catholic-church

almorris

As extracted from the above link to Accord.ie

"Proof of Freedom to Marry
(This can be established through the traditional letters of freedom from each of the parishes the person has lived
in for six months or more since he/she was 18 years of age.

Alternatively they can ask a parent or somebody who has known them all their lives to write a letter stating their
relationship to them and that to the best of their knowledge they have never been married religiously or civilly in
any jurisdiction.

Another possibility is for the person to swear on affidavit before a Commissioner of Oaths attesting that he/she
has never been married religiously or civilly in any jurisdiction.

It is always best to check with your local priest with regards to methods of establishing freedom to marry as
practices vary from place to place)."

Good luck, take care.

amdublin

Have a chat with your priest in the church you go to mass in.

Mrs OBumble

ash2008 wrote: »

but they don't really do parishes where I am.

They might not do parishes in the way you are used to them, but the Catholic church will have some local administrative structures. Even if you are living in a very remote area which does not see a priest very often at all, there will be some arrangement.

If the usual approach to finding a church doesn't work (ie looking 'em up in the phone book), because you really are remote, then you may need to contact the bishop's office and ask how they deal with things. You can find a list of bishops here: http://www.cccb.ca/site/, and it's most like the List of Dioceses of the Latin Rite that you need to look at.

Alternatively if you live in a town, then you may need to search out the churches there, and then figure out which one is Roman Catholic. Hint: start going there for a while before you approach the priest, the Canadians can be pretty conservative ...